The Biden administration’s trade policy: what will it mean for IP?
Despite the flurry of lawsuits and other legal challenges raised by President Donald Trump and his team over the past few weeks, it is inevitable that President-elect Joe Biden will become the next president of the US on inauguration day, January 20, 2021.
The Biden team has made it clear that it intends to undo or reverse a number of decisions and policy positions taken by Trump over the last four years. The new administration will have its work cut out for it upon taking office, most notably the COVID-19 crisis and the resulting economic fallout still plaguing the country. But one area that will surely be addressed—and where the differences with the Trump administration may be most pronounced—is trade policy.
It is also likely that the international harmonisation of IP rights will be addressed by the Biden administration, as the US has woven this issue into previous trade negotiations.
The effect of the ‘America first’ policy
The Trump administration summed up its trade policy with two words: “America first”.
This policy led to the US becoming involved in trade wars, withdrawing from multilateral trade agreements, and the development of adversarial trade positions between the US and several long-time allies, including Canada.
In addition to the effect of this policy on the US economy, there were less publicised results—namely a regression in international IP cooperation along with a stall in the harmonisation of global IP laws.
One of the Trump administration’s most notable trade policy decisions included its executive order to withdraw the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade agreement negotiated between the US and Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam in 2016.
The TPP, which provided for a reduction or elimination of many tariffs between these countries, also required, at the insistence of the US, that member countries met minimum standards for the protection of trademarks, copyright, and patents.
For example, the TPP required:
